Gambit Movie Getting Candra as Main Villain?

5 months ago

20th Century Fox’s Gambit is finally moving forward after the studio set the Gambit release date for February 14, 2019, roughly the same release frame that the record-breaking Deadpool was released in last year. With production starting at some point next year, a new rumor has surfaced, claiming that the X-Men villain Candra The Benefactress a.k.a. Red Death, will be featured in the Gambit movie, although that has not been confirmed by anyone at the studio. It’s possible that the inclusion of Candra can lead to the introduction of a group known as The Externals in the studio’s X-Men universe.

In the X-Men comics, Candra the Benefactress was a telepathic villain who control two different superhero guilds based in New Orleans, Thieves Guild, which Remy LeBeau/Gambit (Channing Tatum) belongs to, and the Assassin’s Guild, which Bella Donna belongs to. Candra grants members of both guilds their powers via her own telepathic powers. The character made her Marvel Comics debut in Gambit #1 that was released in December 1993, with the character created by Howard Mackie and Lee Weeks. Aside from her telepathic abilities, Candra is also an immortal mutant with a slowed aging process, accelerated healing factor, and the ability of pyrokinesis.

While the character in the comic books was caucasian, Candra was featured in the 1990s X-Men animated series as an African-American character, so it’s possible that the movie could cast an African-American female as Candra, but that has not yet been confirmed. If Candra’s presence is in fact confirmed, it could signal that a group called The Externals will be used, much like how The Marauders and The Nasty Boys were rumored after reports claimed Daniel Craig is being sought to play Mister Sinister. It’s possible that The Externals could help provide a bridge between Gambit and other movies in the X-Men universe like Deadpool, New Mutants and X-Force. Here’s an excerpt from this report about The Externals.

“The Externals are a powerful sub-group of mutants able to recover from mortal wounds/death and that consider themselves immortal. Their members include Candra, Absalom, Burke, Crule, Gideon, Nicodemus, Saul, and Selene. Apocalypse is also possibly one as well but is never given membership. New Mutants team members Sunspot and Cannonball were also eyed for membership. Gambit has a direct connection with them as well leading an Age of Apocalypse version at one point in Gambit and The X-Ternals. Outside of Candra, another External character that is extremely striking is Gideon due to his connections to X-Force, New Mutants, Deadpool, and even Gambit. He’s a crossover villain that would make a lot of sense getting an on-screen debut.”

We reported last week that the Gambit director may in fact by Gore Verbinski, who directed the first three Pirates of the Caribbean movies, but it hasn’t been confirmed if he will in fact take the helm. The script is being given a new overhaul, with Channing Tatum revealing in a recent interview that they will start the script from scratch, since the success of the R-rated Deadpool and Logan has opened up new possibilities for the movie, which could likely mean they’re eyeing an R rating for the movie. This report on Candra, from Omega Underground, has not been confirmed, but hopefully we’ll find out more soon.